James Gurney

This weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Friday, August 2, 2013

Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier (1815-1891) did meticulous studies in preparation for his Napoleonic history paintings. Here is one of his oil studies from a model in an authentic uniform.

According to an early eyewitness, "he made a beautifully finished little wax model of a horse and a rider....Every detail was carefully reproduced from the real materials—the rider's cloak, hat, and spurred boots were miniature masterpieces—and in order to get the exact folds of the cloak it was dipped into thin glue and then placed in the wind so that it stiffened as it blew." This model is made of wood, wax, metal, leather, and cord, and measures about 8 inches tall.

Here's a detail of one of his paintings, showing why the preparatory work was necessary. This conviction doesn't happen by accident or last-minute inspiration. Managing all the details and dynamics of even a single figure requires immense focus and effort, a lot like a modern movie director planning a complex visual effects scene.

Thanks to your blog and your books, I've gotten to be pretty good about preparing myself before doing a final drawing/painting. I have friends dress up in costumes, I build maquettes, I do lots of preliminary sketches and at least one scaled-down version of the final piece in the same medium that the final piece will be. I think my art has improved dramatically as a result.

You said in this post, "This conviction doesn't happen by accident or last-minute inspiration." My question is do you think there comes a point where an artist becomes over-prepared? I worry some times that, by over-preparing myself, I might loose a sense of spontaneity in the final piece.

Meissonier was obsessed with both historical accuracy of his paintings and equine locomotion. He did not relied on mere cursory knowledge for representation of the uniforms and military accessories - he interviewed veterans making inquiries in which one made up a soldier's pack, the form of a dolman, the color of a collar, the place of a buckle etc. Once appraised of this information he used to run to a tailor, saddle-maker or gunsmith asking them to reconstruct the costume which no longer existed. Gérôme was fascinated with apparatus Meissonier invented which allowed him to observe the movement of all four of a horse's legs from the side - M. installed a plain small railway on whose tracks he had placed a rolling sofa that was pushed at the same pace as that of a horse walking parallel to him. When, on his sketchbook, he had arrived at fixing the position of a leg, he looked for the position of another leg at that corresponding moment, then he looked at a third and thus resolved the problem.